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9/26/2010: The Gospel and the Insider
John 3:1-16 1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.a” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritb gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘Youc must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”d 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.e 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,f 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”g 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -------------------------- : I labored and diligently and anxiously as to how to understand Paul’s word Romans 1:17, where he says that the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel. I sought long and knocked anxiously for the expression “the righteousness of God.” This blocked the way, because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the unrighteous. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him. : …Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise… When I saw the difference, that law is one thing and gospel another, I broke through. And as I had formerly hated the expression “the righteousness of God”, I now began to regard it as my dearest and most comforting word. So that this expression of Paul’s became to me in very truth a gate of paradise. : -------------------------- New Birth #Whom it's for #*'Born again' is not a type -> Nicodemus (case in point) #*Not a call to become more religious #*Everyone must be born again #Where it's from #*What is the kingdom of God? #*Titus 3:5 #*Don't underestimate the power of the new birth #What it is #*Born again not necessarily a change in behavior #*(Something about spirit, water, life) #*New foundation to your identity, new sensibility #**A whole new understanding of who you are #***"I know I'm somebody because God loves me, not for what I've done but what He has done." #**v.3 new senses. "See and taste that the Lord is good" #***New things and perception. E.g. new understanding of the Bible #***God becoming more real than the rest of the world #***Don't underestimate the newness of b.a. #***Christianity is much bigger on the inside than the outside, but it's hard to enter because it requires you to leave your old life #How it's formed #*Conversion (we do)/born again (God does) #*"A child does not decide to be born": we cannot save ourselves, just like we cannot give birth to ourselves #*Grasp salvation by grace fully -> receive grace #*God gives righteousness, we do not earn it. #*Believe: It's only through the pain of another (Jesus) that you may be born again #Impact #*How can the new birth change those who are already moral? #*E.g. look at actions of Nicodemus later